Open Database Connectivity

Open Database Connectivity, commonly ODBC, is an open specification for providing application developers with a predictable API with which to access Data Sources.
An ODBC engine needs drivers to be able to interact with databases.

ODBC engines

You have two options to chose from: unixODBC and iODBC. Apparently unixODBC is more widely supported. This document shows how to set up unixODBC. First to access your database on your localhost and then extends the steps to configure MySQL to allow remote access through ODBC.

Installation

Configuration

Driver are declared in /etc/odbcinst.ini, and connections in /etc/odbc.ini. More instruction at each driver section.

Drivers

FreeTDS

FreeTDS is a set of libraries for Unix and Linux that allows your programs to natively talk to Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase databases. Technically speaking, FreeTDS is an open source implementation of the TDS (Tabular Data Stream) protocol used by these databases for their own clients.